Whole Grilled Japanese Eggplant with Lemon and Soy Sauce

Japanese eggplants have thin skins and few seeds, just meaty, flavorful flesh that transforms into tender, creamy textured, fragrant, smoky goodness when grilled. The classic way to enjoy this dish is with just soy sauce or Ponzu and a mound of katsuobushi, dried shaved bonito flakes (a type of tuna). The dressing below is more contemporary but also fantastic. Either way, get your hands on these eggplants and grill them.

Ingredients

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Preparation

Whisk together the soy sauce, lemon juice, and olive oil in a bowl to make the dressing; set aside. Score the stem end of each eggplant, making a circular cut in the skin (this will make the eggplant easier to peel). Poke a few holes into the eggplants with a skewer or fork to allow steam to escape as they grill.

Preheat a grill to medium. Grill for about 8 minutes, turning the eggplants a quarter turn every 2 minutes. Try to grill the eggplant all around. Test the eggplants for doneness by pressing against their sides with a pair of tongs. If the eggplants give easily, they're ready. Transfer the eggplants to a plate.

As soon as the eggplants are cool enough to handle, carefully peel off the skin (the skin comes off more easily if the eggplant is warm; don't let it cool completely). Once you've removed the skin, remove the stems, and slice each eggplant into 4 pieces, cutting on an angle. Transfer the eggplant slices to a platter. Drizzle with dressing, sprinkle with the bonito, and serve.

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Recent Reviews

i enjoy the way in which this recipe looks i eaten it before with my loved ones most of us enjoyed this we can have a household gathering again and cook this recipe again soon this really is one tasty recipe you need to test it i guarantee you all you could will require to this its very tasty

This was not very good, though it might have been better if the eggplant was grilled and presented as in the picture. Peeling the longer one was a major pain and it looked anything but appetizing slightly on the diagonal. Now, if you sliced the skin off afterwards and cut the flesh into cubes, just 5 or 6 small ones, then dribbled the sauce over and the bonito flakes, it would probably be much better.
All in all, I wished I had grilled the eggplants longer and made a nice babbaganoush.

KiminAsia from Asia /

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It could be that I only like eggplant
when it's smothered with cheese, but
this was about as bland as food can
get. The so-called sauce couldn't save
it, either. Just not much there in the
way of flavor. Yuck.

juanderingaroundthekitchen from near Seattle /

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Fabulous. A keeper. The sauce was also good on the grilled asparagus and pan fried tilapia that I served with it.

A Cook from Atlanta /

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In response to the
first 4 comments;
the recipe says to
use whole eggplants,
not chunks. The
photo is beautiful,
but slightly
misleading.